Allison Mack, Second-in-Command of a Sex Cult

[WickedJenn]

I believe it was in December that 20/20 did an exposé on this cult...wow. I was blown away. I had heard bits and pieces about it over the years but I never knew any details about specifics and what went on.

Allison is featured on that special - multiple videos of her interviewing the leader, Keith, which I believe was used as a recruiting tool. When I saw her on there, I could see how gone she was. She was completely taken in by all of it - it seemed like nothing existed outside of him and the rest of it.

Sarah Edmonson's story was just horrid, and to think that Allison had a hand in damaging all of those women makes me feel ill. How can one purport to be for women's rights and then in the same breath, turn around and enslave and brand them?

I've done a lot of reading over the years on many of the other cults - Jim Jones, Waco, Heaven's Gate, etc. IMO, every single one of the victims of those cults had personality traits in common - they were all in some sort of vulnerable state, in need of something, and putting their trust into the wrong person, and therefore allowing themselves to be manipulated. Even though their instincts were most likely screaming once they realized what was happening, it was too late and they pushed it all down and went against them. They became blind followers.

Allison will have to face consequences for her role in this, and they are going to be heavy ones. I can only hope that once that does happen, she can get free of all of this and get help. Once she does, she has some serious amends to make, and honestly I don't think she can ever give back what she and Keith and the others took away from all those women.

It's just a horrible situation. Kudos to Kristin for speaking out about this and to Erica for supporting her in it. I am happy she got away from this disgusting group.

[moviefan2k4]

What's disturbing to me from an outsider's perspective, is how my main reaction has been to feel much more sympathy for Allison than anyone else. I'm reminded of how its easier to dismiss people you don't know...and while I've never personally met Allison, she was like a friend to millions for ten years through her portrayal of Chloe. I'm just having trouble reconciling in my own mind, how someone who seemed to be so upbeat and cheerful could allow themselves to be roped into something as horrible as this...let alone take charge of it.

Another disturbing fact is that aside from that 20/20 piece, the mass media has been almost completely silent about this whole thing until just a few days ago. That's when I first heard about it, and it produced such conflicted emotions in me. I do want justice done against Keith Raniere, even execution if there's enough evidence to warrant it. The victims of this cult deserve healing...but unless she was driven completely off her rocker, I think Allison's a victim too.

[Doranwen]

Haven't been on here much over the last few years but mentioned Chlark as my OTP on SV tonight to a friend, and they were all "Chloe's taken on a whole new world to me since the sex cult thing". My reaction was ????? and I've spent the evening reading articles and comments and just mind-boggled.

What's disturbing to me from an outsider's perspective, is how my main reaction has been to feel much more sympathy for Allison than anyone else. I'm reminded of how its easier to dismiss people you don't know...and while I've never personally met Allison, she was like a friend to millions for ten years through her portrayal of Chloe. I'm just having trouble reconciling in my own mind, how someone who seemed to be so upbeat and cheerful could allow themselves to be roped into something as horrible as this...let alone take charge of it.

...The victims of this cult deserve healing...but unless she was driven completely off her rocker, I think Allison's a victim too.

I feel similarly. Life isn't necessarily either/or when it comes to things like this - from what it sounds like, she was both victim and perpetrator - moreso because I think before all this she actually was sane enough that if her older self could meet her now, she would be horrified at what she had become. And multiple sources I've seen commented on how she looks unhealthy, dazed, confused in the video of Keith Raniere's arrest. She needs some serious therapy just to be able to recognize the guilt that should belong to her for her role in things - and then how does one ever atone for something like this, once fully aware of it? It's a tragedy; she was so talented but at this point her career is toast, I'd think. And she had ten times the talent of most of the other cast members on the show, too. I feel for her - her road is going to be a tough one the rest of her life, and being famous will only make it impossible to avoid.

[Martin le Magicien]

Here is the latest rumor : https://artvoice.com/2018/04/03/sex-.../#.WsUdEJoh2Hs

That's not the worst thing she might have done though...

[TheSecretVampire]

Just goes to show you don't know people who you watch on shows and movies. She's the last person I would expect to be ever involved in something like this. It's really bad but also sad that she would get involve in something like this, especially have had a solid career. Not to say money and fame is everything, but she pretty much had it all and then it's all gone in one fell swoop.


And to think she was involved in this during the latter seasons of Smallville is even more disturbing. Now, I have to wonder why if this was her real reason for not appearing much in season 10 (despite what was said in public)was to focus more on her cult....just truly disturbing.

[McFly]

What a......... https://artvoice.com/2018/04/05/alli.../#.WsbUmpdryUk

[Doranwen]

*boggles* Just...wow. It's so sad.

I ran across this one: https://artvoice.com/2018/04/01/expe...-filled-posts/

The quote that stands out to me is "Allison Mack as she exists today is a human tragedy". The last several paragraphs are even more heartbreaking. Her parents should've been the first trying to get her out of it, but instead they apparently supported her involvement (presumably unaware of the branding and sex slavery?). The link within that article to the post about how she quit SV because of Raniere is pretty convincing (quotes from her own interviews, combined with what we know now about who Raniere is--no question about it!). Just, wow. Her life is a train wreck and at this point nothing anyone can do will avoid it. The best thing for her would be to be arrested - and most likely hospitalized, since the articles say she's been on a 500-800 calorie diet every day for years and is in early menopause. Clear medical grounds for it, I'd think? Whether anyone can get her mind straight after what Raniere has done to her (and she to herself - what percentage of blame goes where I won't even begin to try to guess), well, I wouldn't like to be the therapist trying to do it. But I hope for her sake that she still has the chance to go down another path, even if it's at the end of a long prison sentence and a ton of therapy.

[Martin le Magicien]

It really is scary to discover what can hide behind a beautiful, warm smile...

[costas22]

You read about what Allison has given up for Raniere and you hope he gets the worst punishment possible. He ruined her life, her principles, her career, her health, the hard worked fortune she made and her womanhood. It's heartbreaking, especially if you are a fan of hers.

At the same time, you read the article that McFly posted and you find it hard to feel sorry for her. Brainwashed or not, she's evolved into something despicable. She seems too far gone and that's probably what the authorities will think as well.

DoS...what a disgusting acronym.

[Martin le Magicien]

It's the hypocrisy too... Posting about feminism while recruiting slaves... How could her mind reconcile what she was doing with what she was posting?

[costas22]

It's the hypocrisy too... Posting about feminism while recruiting slaves... How could her mind reconcile what she was doing with what she was posting?

Like all good villains, I guess she convinced herself that she was fighting for the right cause and what she did was feministic. I don't think she even cared about creating some kind of front.

[myankskent]

I haven't posted on this board in years but I came across the stories about Allison Mack and it kind of just brought me back here. After watching Smallville for years and knowing the kind of person that Allison Mack was, I'm just disgusted by this. While she was definitely a victim at first, I'm sorry but she has developed into an absolute monster. Reading what she is doing to these women, even now, since Raniere was put in jail makes me sick to my stomach. I hope the FBI gets it's investigation going and issues an arrest soon because every day, every hour and every minute that goes by with Mack still out there terrorizing these girls is unacceptable.

[Doranwen]

Well, the latest articles are calling it an "imminent arrest", so hopefully. *crosses fingers*

In the words of a character from another favorite show, "I can have two conflicting emotions at the same time." I feel both sympathy for all the victims (and I include Allison Mack in this), and desire justice to be applied to all the perpetrators (also which includes Allison Mack). I cannot believe that if someone had talked to her, say 20 years ago, before she ever heard of NXIVM, that she would be enthusiastic about what she would become and do. Raniere, otoh, I'm pretty sure, went into all of this with this sort of intent. Maybe he hadn't worked out the specific details early on, but I think he meant evil from day one, and I have absolutely no sympathy for him. Unless he ever wants to repent from the evil he's caused (I doubt it), he's a lost cause. But I refuse to believe that someone like Mack, who started out as a victim, is irredeemable until she is dead. And the only way I can see that even being possible is with some serious consequences for her - jail time, therapy, whatever else. I don't know what will happen for sure (though arrest seems inevitable at this point, and I keep expecting to see it in the headlines), but I like to hope, if for nothing else than in memory of the person she used to be. Wishing for her to face up to her actions as the evil that they are and repent does not in any way negate the horror that she has caused to the other women, though. It's awful all around.

The photo of Mack in a wedding dress in this article is sickening just for how unhealthily thin she is (look at her collar bone area): https://artvoice.com/2018/04/07/alli...ex-slave-cult/

[Martin le Magicien]

There is an article all about Allison here : https://artvoice.com/2018/04/10/part.../#.Ws0AX5oh2Hs

Edit : There will be a series of articles on Allison. It gets harder and harder to believe Allison is a good person deep down... And I wonder where Artvoice finds its information.

[Doranwen]

It sounds like they've got some people who are/were her friends (or were at least close enough to observe things - like seeing that e-mail on her computer screen) that are feeding them some info. Which, at this point, I can see why - it's really hard to look at who she was and reconcile it with the person she has become, and a series showing just how someone like Raniere brainwashes and leads people step-by-step to do things they never would have done before… it's sort of illustrating the classic frog-in-the-pot story. You know the one - if the frog's tossed into boiling water, it hops out before it can be killed, but if it's tossed into cool water and the water's slowly heated up bit by bit, the frog eventually boils to death because it's never a big leap, just incremental changes. Even so, it still seems like she had to be pretty desperate to feel like she mattered to someone (or something!), to fall for the stuff he spun. Such a tragedy. Every time I think about it, that's what I think - she threw away her career, her health, her life, practically - and for what? It is really really sad.